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Help
For Parents
Wow...
being a Parent!
You would think that after raising your children, caring for their illnesses, preventing
and treating all their accidents, and making sure that no harm came to them physically,
mentally or emotionally, now that they are teenagers or preteens, you could relax
a little.
You’d think wrong!
Unfortunately, the risks surrounding
your children’s health and welfare do not stop just because they are a little older.
In fact, harmful possibilities just keep increasing daily.
Parents possess a tremendous sense of protection towards their children and want
to spare them from any possible emotional or physical hurt. This is why, when you
see your own child heading down the wrong road and flirting with danger, you cringe
with fear and foreboding. Every parent on this earth experiences similar concerns
regarding their children’s future. If parents could read the future, all questions
could be answered and stress reduced in one’s life. Unfortunately, reality dictates
that we must learn as we go, with no definite knowledge of what tomorrow may bring.
That is why the best influence parents can have on their children’s future is
how they prepare them today.
Parents and guardians have the role of helping children prepare for life, to provide
a safe home environment, with healthy family dynamics, love, support, help and guidance.
Parents also need to filter their child’s environment and stimuli to ensure that
the child’s personality, emotional well-being, self-esteem and feelings of self worth
are established positively. When it comes to choosing whether to experiment with
drugs and alcohol, the help, education, love and support you give your child will
definitely be a great influence when she faces these choices.
A common question parents ask themselves is: “How do I know I have prepared my
child adequately for the realities of life?”
I believe that no matter how well a job you think you’ve done as a parent, you will
never know the answer to this question until your child faces certain personal challenges
and choices. Unfortunately, no matter how well a parent tries to provide all the
fundamental skills needed by their child to develop in a healthy, secure and intelligent
manner, these skills will not necessarily prevent the child from being exposed to
the dangers of drugs.
How can
parents best prepare their child about the dangers of drugs?
The best way parents can prepare their children against exposure to drugs is by actively
educating themselves on drugs and the surrounding issues. Through drug education
and communication with their children, parents become proactive in helping their
children remain drug free and safe. They monitor their children’s welfare in an informed
manner. Through their own drug education, they also impart knowledge about drugs
to their children to prepare them for any exposure they may have to drugs.
This guide provides, in simple layman’s terms, information for parents on how best
to deal with the realities and influences that drugs and alcohol may have on their
children. Preventative measures are outlined, as well as, communication techniques,
signs to look for, drug profiles, preparation methods for drug administration, and
how to recognize particular drugs and types of drug paraphernalia. Parents will also
be taught how to determine reasons behind negative or strange changes they may notice
in their child’s physical appearance, behavior or attitudes.
Here are two questions for you:
- Are you sure you could detect
signs and symptoms of drug use in your child?
Do you really know what to look for regarding drug equipment used for different
methods of administration, even if they are homemade devices?
Keeping well informed on the subject
of drug and alcohol abuse is vitally important whether you are the parent of a five-year
old or a fifteen-year old. The earlier you educate yourself on the subject of substance
abuse, the better position you’ll be to help your child through this minefield of
choices he will face. Imagine if you knew that your preparation now on drug abuse
issues could prevent or reduce your child from developing a drug problem; thus, avoiding
their involvement in a number of dangerous or deadly possibilities. Would you pay
attention and use the information available to you?
Parents often find themselves scrambling for information on drugs, especially when
they fear their child may be using them already. It would be much wiser for every
parent to have a comprehensive source of up-to-date drug information in the home,
where it is readily accessible, so the information can be studied, ready for the
time a parent might need to reference it.
- Do you as a parent have any
drug abuse information in your home as a reference or a source of helpful guidance
right now?
Are you confident your child is not using drugs?
Parents do the best they can with
what they have at the time; however, this does not mean they have the insight to
know the outcomes of all their parenting techniques beforehand. Mistakes can be made
unintentionally, but they can also be made through ignorance. Some parents are so
sure of their parental skills and their home environment, they honestly believe their
child will never try using drugs. They convince themselves that their child is not
the drug taking kind. They believe it will happen to someone else’s child, never
their own.
Unfortunately, we as parents do not experience what our children
experience in their
lives. We are not able to think our child’s thoughts, nor do we have our child’s
sense of reality or coping skills, and we do not own our child’s feelings of self-esteem
or self worth. Jane is her own person in her own right; Jack is his own person in
his own right.
With these facts in mind, it is presumptuous for parents to assume they know their
child’s choices in any given situation or what their child’s destiny holds. A parent
would be very unwise to assume their wishes for their child’s future will come true.
As you read this guide you may say to yourself: All is well. My child has a loving
family, open communication with me, good grades, is well liked, has good friends
and other healthy signs.
If this is the case, how wonderful! Your child is in a very good position to avoid
drug use; however, what I am trying to tell you is there are no guarantees in life,
and you are wise to remain constantly alert to any negative possibilities. Do not
ever be lulled into a false sense of security regarding the welfare of your child.
Many an addict to whom I have spoken has come from a seemingly normal background
with a good childhood; however, something obviously went wrong because these people
developed an addiction to drugs.
The information in this book is not meant to frighten any reader. It is provided
to help parents understand that potential drug users are sometimes difficult to predict
and, when you think all is well, it may not be.
When I pose questions or ask you to look at areas of importance, keep calm, do not
react but, rather, allow yourself to absorb the information. Remember, nothing is
set in stone. Every child, every parent, every situation is different. What relates
to one person or situation may not relate to another. Just be aware that it is hard
to know what will be relevant when you consider future developments in your child’s
life so, please, keep an open mind when reading. Lastly, have confidence that by
using this guide, your common sense and your parental intuition, you will be in the
best position to help your child, should the need arise.
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